Ferrari’s Biggest 2026 Problem Isn’t The Car

It's a tale as old as time. Ferrari's somehow managing to trip over themselves, even when their car is absolutely on it, and that's the thing that absolutely kills me. Because Fred Vasseur reckoned Ferrari had stronger race pace than Mercedes around Zandvoort, yet Mercedes finished ahead of them. Lewis Hamilton thought Ferrari needed to act sooner, whereas Charles thought Ferrari needed to wait longer. Both came out of the same race absolutely mad at their own teams, and I know you're going to be saying that, Hamilton eventually apologised, so surely that would be the end of that, right? Well, no. Because you've really got to look at how he was acting just after the race. Lewis was absolutely furious with himself, the team. He stated very clearly that he is here to try and win championships. He is here to win. And that kind of mentality from Lewis is something that Formula 1 is always likely to benefit from, because even though many may not consider Ferrari to be their favourite team, the sight of Ferrari being able to stick it to Mercedes and come out on top is a sight to behold, especially when I was around Zandvoort, and the reaction for after George winning the sprint and getting sprint pole, it was absolutely tepid. And besides, I can easily imagine some of you listening to what Lewis said back then and go hell yeah, because a fired up Lewis is more interesting than a miserable one. Because he caught Leclerc up on fresher tyres and simply wanted to pass him, so that means he could run his own race. It wasn't like he was trying to rub salt into Leclerc's wound or anything like that. The pass was never taken, they just chose to box Leclerc and with that, the advantage that Lewis had in terms of his tyres just slipped away from him, all in dirty air. And of course, when two drivers are colliding, they do lose eventual time bickering amongst themselves. And of course, Lewis sarcastically congratulating the team for wasting his time and eventually saying that he felt like some kind of a guinea pig. Naturally, because this is the internet, birthing a whole collection of brand new memeage. And then you had Lewis after the race explaining what things might have been done under Mercedes and what really helped him is that we saw a living colour example of what he was talking about. Lewis really praising Mercedes operations and efficiency. The thing about that, Lewis, and we'll have to get the phone out for this, is that you can't really compare Charles Leclerc to Valtteri Bottas, you know, he hasn't got a definite number two at But then Leclerc started asking questions too and showing that he himself was nettled and that Ferrari got the complete situation wrong entirely. For him, Russell had already stopped and Leclerc was close enough behind the Mercedes that Ferrari suddenly had a proper strategic choice. It could stop Charles soon afterwards and keep his tyre life fairly similar to Russell's or it could leave him out and try for the overcut. Try and build tyre life for later in the race to maybe try and emulate the overtake that he did last year to much fanfare. But instead, Ferrari chose the option Leclerc didn't want and Charles's reasoning for being cross and wanting that decision was rather understandable. Because you've got to look to what happened during the sprint, we'll touch upon this later in the video as well, but Ferrari doing something different netted Charles Leclerc P2. But instead of rolling with the driver's instincts in that very moment, Ferrari just stuck to their guns, repeated the instructions and then Leclerc had no choice but to box in anyway. So think about the rod that Ferrari made for its own back here. Both their drivers wanted a certain strategy in which to maximise their own races and realise their own car's pace's full potential. Lewis and Charles just wanted their strategies to be preserved, but they weren't preserved at all. They died a death. Now Ferrari can easily argue that the drivers didn't have every single bit of information available on the pit wall. We had Fred Versailles explaining why Ferrari did what they did, because over the radio, since these days you are more likely to be able to hear every single transmission, thank you F1 TV, I wish we had it here, and easily accessible, that you can just tap into a radio station. In fact, I believe at race control that's exactly what they pay the interns to do. And then in lieu of that, Fred said they had to keep certain information confidential, they couldn't reveal every single secret. And oh yeah, traffic also compromised their run plan too. But with respect Fred, you really made the art of code words infamous with Plan A, Plan B, Plan C. Why couldn't you have just made a code word? That's what they're there for. And then what was really, really getting my gears ground was that Fred then described a kind of confusion going around the situation, them having to juggle the traffic, as I mentioned, the tyre life of both their drivers, and then the fact that, well, Russell was coming into play here. So in that light, you simply can't just look to both of the drivers being prima donnas and then complaining that they didn't get what they wanted. They basically, Ferrari, dropped the ball. They had fear paralysis because they were left completely and utterly overwhelmed. This is the oldest Formula One team on the grid by a considerable margin, and they still make errors like this, or at least they make errors when it's really on the line. It does remind me of what McLaren was doing in 2024, and then, well, in 2025 as well, but for different reasons. That's for another video though. And Mercedes' virtual safety car situation doesn't help Fred at all, because the team had to split their strategies because of it. Antonelli stopped fresh tyres while Russell stayed out. That left Mercedes with the same broad problem Ferrari had. As Antonelli steamed up to Russell, Mercedes told the latter to let Antonelli through, and he did. The opposite of what Ferrari undertook. Wolf later explaining that Mercedes had already discussed how it wanted to handle situations like this, and the team didn't want its drivers wasting time fighting each other, as is what happened over at Ferrari. And the former's decision wasn't about making sure everyone was happy with it either. And it just really screams to me that Ferrari have not had any kind of contingency plan to convey that, hey, if there's a situation where you're running two completely different run plans, we will probably ask you to be passed, just don't take it personally, okay? But then, considering who these two men are, you then have to then try and telegraph that to Team LH and the Lecfosi. I mean, the optics is something that Ferrari really does obsess about. They do love their Instagram likes, and they do love the attention that they got with hiring Lewis and having Charles Leclerc, one of the most commercially influential drivers on the grid. They are basically thinking not only for themselves and the drivers, but also the millions of fans they have around the world. So maybe that might be why they got a little bit of fear paralysis. But yes, Mercedes knew that their drivers wouldn't be happy, or at least one of their drivers wouldn't be, because, well, Russell letting Kimi through left him vulnerable to an attack from Hamilton going all the way to the end of the race. Now, of course, the firm of doubt is here for the fact that there is no guarantee that Lewis would have been able to pass George in the end. I mean, Lewis himself said that he wasn't entirely sure that he had enough pace in the tank to be able to convert after what happened. So I'm not going to pretend and say that Ferrari had P3 gift-wrapped for Lewis and then just simply yeeted it out into the North Sea or anything like that. No, it's, uh, I think it's something simply down to the fact that Ferrari reduced the chance of Lewis to be able to actually, you know, give it a go, at least try. And especially when you got Fred up there saying that Ferrari had the better race pace than Mercedes, and it could be something that really superseded the Mercedes straight-line advantage, that right now, before the second ADUO patchlines, Ferrari might be right there in terms of the W17, but operationally speaking, they just can't hold a candle. And as a result, Mercedes were able to get a double podium behind Lando Norris, and all that Ferrari got was P4, P5, and egg on their face. And, uh, we have seen this before. Let's not forget what happened around Miami. And they also had a parallel example with Williams swapping Carlos and Alex around with very little fanfare. Back then, Hamilton was on the alternative tyre strategy behind Leclerc, asking Ferrari to release him so he could attack Antonelli. Ferrari waited while deciding what to do, and Lewis eventually delivered the now-famous suggestion that maybe they should take a tea break while they were thinking about it. Ferrari did eventually swap them, and then Leclerc started to get annoyed. Following Hamilton was hurting his own tyres, and when Hamilton couldn't convert the deed and attack Kimi after all, Ferrari had to work out how they'd reverse positions. The attempted solution had now created another problem, because both drivers had sacrificed something while Ferrari tried to preserve both of their opportunities. The same awkward question. That when we see Leclerc and Hamilton arrive on the same bit of track, and they're on completely different strategies, Ferrari simply hasn't got a clue as what to do. But in contrast, you remember what happened in China. They're actually on similar strategies, or similar enough strategies. These two drivers do know how to race each other cleanly. It was one of the most spectacular battles we'd seen in a while. It did ease the pain slightly of the optics of the 2026 regulations, and even Charles and Lewis said very, very plainly to the media that they did have fun racing each other. It's not like these two drivers dread coming into contact with one another, at least in terms of position. No, it was clear that there was not going to be a challenge. Lewis was going to be the faster of the two drivers, and then Leclerc was having his own bugbear regarding strategies. These two men are not happy right now, especially when they've got a car that can take it to Mercedes, or even exceed them. Ferrari can't seem to lay down a game plan when they really, really need to, and it costs them points. And then, you've also got to consider what happened around Baku last year. Ferrari released Hamilton because his tyre situation offered a chance to attack, but then instructed him to restore Leclerc's position when the move didn't come good. Hamilton did slow on the final lap, but the position wasn't returned before the flag. Oops. So what keeps recurring here, I think, is that Ferrari's trying to extract one driver's temporary strategic advantage without completely damaging the other driver's race, or even ego. An obviously difficult feat, given who these two men are, as I've said. But hang on a minute, it's not like Ferrari are completely inept in terms of strategies, or they're afraid of doing something unconventional, because again, 24 hours before the Dutch Grand Prix, I saw, in the flesh, Charles Leclerc pull off the move on Lando Norris to move one position up and be able to convert the soft tyres into something that was a viable strategy. Everyone else was on the mediums. I didn't think it would work, but Charles made it work absolutely beautifully, and he was praising the strategy team for doing something outside the box, and it converting that single extra point. Yeah, you may scoff the sprints and think, oh well, it's only a point, but indeed, Charles was at least to at least prove a point, as well as score one. And it left McLaren on the mental back foot, but they then admittedly did come roaring back for the main qualifying and the race, something which Mercedes had to stew over as well, because, you know, Antonelli, 11 and a half seconds behind Lando. Yeah, it wasn't 30 seconds like Lando did a couple of years ago, but still, must've stung. So it's not like Ferrari can't pick an aggressive option when it comes to strategies, it most certainly can, but only when a driver is clearly faster than the other one, as in a Fernando is faster than you. On Sunday, though, when both of their drivers were at similar pace, or they weren't really in even the same ballpark, they just had that situation, those two competitive drivers coming close to one another, and they just didn't know what to do, in case they maybe hurt their feelings, or maybe led to some unfounded implications about what their strategy or where their status is. Basically, what I'm trying to say here is that, at times, all the teams have to pick a number two driver on the day. It doesn't necessarily have to last 10 races or five races, they just have to make a decision in that moment and just stick to it, just try it, and then if it doesn't work, you swap it back. I mean, mind you, Lewis, you know, do it in time, okay? I mean, it's not an envious choice or anything like that, I certainly wouldn't want to make it, especially when they've got to consider everyone else out there online, the millions of people watching Ferrari, even those who don't really have a particular allegiance to a driver, you know, they're watching what Ferrari does like a whore, and of course they'll be happy to criticise if it means that Ferrari absolutely fumble it. So, when you take all the examples I've laid out into account, it seems very clear that when the drivers have their own ideals for a race, it's something that Ferrari can't simply process at the same time. If they're running similar strategies, then it's a hell of a lot easier, whereas if they're running completely different run plans, it's a case of them, Ferrari, being absolutely bamboozled and hoodwinked and absolutely, I don't know what other synonyms to say, you get what I mean. It simply meant that neither driver was happy at the end of the day. So I don't think you can blame Hamilton's temper or pretend that Claire was being awkward here, neither driver had any reason to sabotage the other one. All they wanted Ferrari to do was make a decision that could maximise their own races, because that's what racing drivers are supposed to do. Because at one point, Lewis looked in mild contention for the win, certainly a decent crack at P2. He certainly had enough pace to at least spook Mercedes into making the call with Antonelli when they did, the threat was real. Meanwhile, the pitbull has to decide which request serves the team, and Formula One doesn't give you very long to think about that. And this, I think, would be the situation which leads to Ferrari not winning either championship, not because they are technically beneath Mercedes. What we're seeing with this Ferrari, and Mercedes simply not having enough budget left to try and respond to either Ferrari or McLaren, is that all that Mercedes needs Ferrari to do is just make error, after error, after error. And they needn't be big ones as well, because if you drop a couple of tenths in qualifying, that can make a difference between one grid position, sometimes three. A slow start can easily compromise where you rejoin the race, then if you stay one lap behind a certain car, be it your teammate or a backmarker, that can certainly lose you time, sometimes even a couple of seconds, and as we saw with the kerfuffle with Sainz and Piastri in Hungary, it can cost you several seconds, and all of this means that it weakens one driver strategy and it strengthens another one. So you see what I'm trying to get at here? Ferrari didn't make one big colossal hot mess right here, they just made all these little mistakes here or there across the entire weekend, which ultimately meant that Mercedes came away with a double podium, and of course the sprint win, if anyone remembers. And that is not too shabby, considering that Mercedes is very much staring at a grid drop for Antonelli in the face for Monza, and realising that, yeah, in terms of competition, they are not the dominant team anymore. It's very much a case, for the rest of the season, they are going to have to be in defence mode and stick to their original plan, back when they were the domineering force. So really, you just can't look at Lewis's apology and say that's the end of that. There is far too much here to do that sort of thing, because all that he apologised for was his tone for getting angry. He did not apologise for the stuff he actually said regarding strategy, neither did Leclerc. Both of these men are really annoyed with their team for not giving their own run plans the full chance to shine, or at least try and get a higher position. And considering that we're still seeing phenomena that we saw as early as Miami 2025, Ferrari hasn't got on top of things. In fact, things haven't really changed at all in that regard. If Fred is still talking about confusion here, then, my god, especially with Lando Norris roaring past Charles Leclerc in the championship standings, and then if we get the Monaco results being completely eliminated in terms of pointage, Lando roars even more and Hamilton loses out because of it. I mean, that's for another video, obviously, but there's so many factors at play here. And I think Leclerc's comments are valid as well, because he was not really talking about Hamilton whatsoever. He instead was pointing to Ferrari and asking, what the hell's going on here? I was trying to do my own thing. And he wasn't mad with the situation with Lewis or why Lewis was steaming up right behind him. It was a case of him just doing his own thing and trying to at least overtake Russell, trying to have a chance at maybe Ferrari getting the double podium. So I don't think Hamilton was trying to prove Leclerc wrong or trying to stick it to the man or Leclerc trying to prove Hamilton right or anything like that. They were just trying to get on with their races after qualifying was compromised, and their team simply didn't give them the right amount of support with all the information they had to be able to make good of that. Neither Lewis or Charles knew exactly what the other one was doing. And then, of course, you've got to consider that there are 20 other drivers' run plans they've got to take into account as well, because they've got to either weave across them, or if in terms of their game track position, then they have to consider that too. It's a lot of stuff to think about. So instead, I think what Leclerc did was make it much harder to dismiss Hamilton's frustrations of the whole story, which brings us to Monza. Ferrari appears capable of fighting Mercedes on race pace, and it may have even more performance coming with its second engine patch for this year, should they choose to take it. But finding another tenth or two in the engine, it doesn't really count for much toffee when the team gives fractions of a second away through either hesitation, confusion, or fear, retribution, or pissing a driver off, because sometimes you simply got to piss the driver off, and Russell is a living embodiment of that. This is now the third time we've had this happen, where both of these drivers are doing their own thing, and Ferrari just doesn't know how to handle it when they're steaming up to one another, and they don't want to make either of them feel bad. And it could easily happen again, and if it does, and it will, it will be an absolute doozy. Because Hamilton thought Ferrari waited when it needed to act, and Leclerc thought that Ferrari acted when they needed to wait. And it certainly doesn't help that the Sir admitted to the fact that they simply made the mistake, that they were absolutely befuddled with all of this, and then what really made things bad for Fred was that Mercedes had a similar situation, and they had no issue. They faced it with very little fanfare, and that might be the thing that wins them the titles. Ferrari now has a decision to make. They need to stop doing what they're doing right now. Zandvoort needs to be where they draw the line, where they have two superstar drivers, and they have to make a decision about it. They do have to make a decision. They can't wait, because it costs both of their men time. Time they simply can't afford to lose when these margins are this fine right now. They don't have a gulf of absolute delta that Mercedes had at the beginning of the year. Because like it or not, they are going to face this encounter again, because the pace will improve, and these two men will get hungrier and hungrier for the chance of maybe trying for a world title in the first year of this regulation cycle. Who am I kidding? They're gonna fumble it, but I believe in you, though. I don't think you're gonna fumble it, because, well, the video's right here, and it's certainly something you'll enjoy. I'll just go and freshen myself up, and I'll be right with you.